Metropolitan Opera – Bizet’s Les Pecheurs de Perles. November 29, 2018.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat CC26, $25.)

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor – Emmanuel Villaume.  Zurga – Alexander Birch Elliott, Nadir – Javier Camerena, Leila – Pretty Yende, Nourabad – Nicolas Teste.

This was the second time I saw this production of this opera at the Met, and the fourth time overall.

My Rush Ticket seat was in the right rear orchestra section, so I had a completely different perspective of the production, compared to what I saw in January, 2016.

This time, I was not nearly as impressed with the set design.  At the 2016 performance I felt it was a very poetic and effective design (if memory serves,) For tonight it served the purpose, and that was about it.  The dreamy waves that turned into a storm were not nearly as dreamy or menacing, and I am sure I saw people at the back moving the sheets around.  I didn’t catch the divers that climbed onto the boat either, only someone sitting in the swaying boat (no one prone to motion sickness need apply.)

The auditorium was quite full, which was good.

However, I did get to appreciate the story.  While there were still holes in the plot, I could follow much better the emotional trajectory through which it took the audience.  Similar, I enjoyed many of the music numbers beyond the famous duet between the leading men.  The orchestra sounded well the few moments I managed to pay attention to it, and there was none of the jitters I logged in my two previous entries.

The program artists for Zurga and Nadir were Kwiecien and Camerena.  Elliott was called as the stand-in for Kwiecien because of illness.  This is the first time I came across the name Elliott, but he did well, at times at the “breakthrough” level (of course for all I know he may be already world-renowned.)  Camerena had one of the few encores I heard a few years ago in Cinderella (Rossini’s version.)  He did well today, but the performance didn’t quite measure up to my expectations.

Pretty Yende is a recent addition to the Met’s roster, and this is the first time I saw her perform.  She has a beautiful voice that came through very well.  There were slight intonation problems, and harshness sometimes crept it, but I am sure she will be heard from often.  Indeed she will sing the role of Marie in La Fille du Regiment at the Met early next year.

Curtain Call.

Here is the New York Times review.  The reviewer loves Yende, and compares Camerena’s singing to Polenzani’s (whom we also saw.)  In that performance (11/14) Elliott stepped in mid-performance to substitute.  I appreciated the short synopsis she gave, which includes “But then!  Zurga has a better idea.  He sets fire to his village so Nadir and Leila can escape.  They seem as confused as the audience at this point, … Curtain.”

I had to help out at Ellie’s this afternoon, so I took the bus from Hoboken to New York City.  On the way back there were delays in the subway system due to track repairs, so I didn’t get back to Hoboken until after 11 pm.  After eating at Mamoun’s, it was around 12:30 pm that I was home.

What does food from Mamoun's have to do with the opera?  Well, this is my blog, and I can post whatever I want.